Creative Play at Grandpa and Grandma's House

We don't have a swimming pool, a lake or a river but by missing all of these amenities the our grandchildren became creative. They rode bikes around our small community (so nice to not have to worry in a small town), ate breakfast on the deck, played in the treehouse, made their own water slide, helped Grandpa make a fire pit and watched a tree stump burn. It was so nice hearing grandchildren's voices and watch them play so nicely together. Thanks for spending a few days with Grandpa and Grandma!

Family after Saturday wedding


Breakfast on the deck


Treehouse Fun


Kids in the treehouse


We can made our own slippy slide



Slippy Slide


Boys helping dig fire pit


N & T working


Watching the tree stump burn


Family on the road again

Sites of Silver Dollar City

This week we have been enjoying a time away from home in SDC, Branson, MO with friends from Ames. Beautiful lights and great shows in the City this week.

Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Thanksgiving found us in Germantown, TN with family and friends. The boys were all home from college and we had wonderful weekend with loved ones. To complete the weekend we all walked the new Memphis Greenway trail and ended the day with a "special" kind of snow cone at Jerry's. The kids loved it!

Everyone at our Thanksgiving celebration







Walk on the new trail

Trick or Treat in Texas

The "Texas" grandkids are out Trick or Treating in the neighborhoods as we speak. They put together their costumes by themselves and all looked so cute! HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hikes in Seward, AK, Kenai and Russian Rivers

On the way home from Seward we took a detour to the Kenai and Russian Rivers. Beautiful drive viewing God's creation all the way home. Hiked to the Russian River waterfalls (6 miles RT hike up the mountain) and saw salmon jumping the rapids.

Saturday morning sky



Entry to Kenai & Russian River



Unusual mushroom on the hike



Fish jumping the rapids


Russian River Waterfalls



Kenai River


Yes we made it to the Russian River Falls


Seward, AK Harbor



Hike in Seward, AK



A Resting in a odd shaped tree



Gpa and J on our Seward hike



Dutch hotel for our Dutch friends

Salmon fishing in Alaska

Early Wednesday morning found some of our campers out on a boat fishing for Salmon. Around 2:00 they came in with a catch of 11 beautiful salmon. Then out again, so we will see how many more are caught before sundown.

The harbor



Salmon catch of the day



Spraying them before the filleting begins



Filleting the Salmon



Continuing the filleting process

Alaska Adventures Continued

Tuesday evening we left Anchorage and drove 2+ hours to Seward, AK where camping is relaxing and the salmon fishing is good. Early in the morning Marc, Andrew and Jessica went out salmon fishing while the rest of us hiked up to Exit Glacier. What a fun adventure in the beautiful mountains of Alaska.

Traveling on Tuesday to Seward, AK



Wednesday hike up to the Glacier


Walking to the Glacier



Almost there!



River flowing from the Glacier



Glacier up close



Warning as we got closer to the Glacier



At the Glacier



That is NOT N & J walking down the Glacier!!



Fire Flower - the first flower to bloom after a fire!